


our nights melt into sequels

by modernscarlett



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bad Boy Jughead Jones, Betty becomes a serpent later on, Dark Betty Cooper, F/F, F/M, Feared!Jug, Forbidden Love, Good Girl Betty Cooper, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Perfect Betty Cooper, Southside Serpent Betty Cooper, Southside Serpent Jughead Jones, Southside Serpent Leader Jughead Jones, bughead - Freeform, definitely Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz, definitely some smut, defintely Kevin Keller/Joaquin DeSantos, jughead gets to know bettys dark side before all others, kevin/betty/veronica best friend trio, maybe Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, maybe Reggie Mantle/Veronica Lodge, maybe Sweet Pea/Veronica, no established Archie/Betty/Jughead friendship, not quiet sure about all of the side couples, some smut, southside serpents, wow veronica is shippable
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 05:31:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19419451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/modernscarlett/pseuds/modernscarlett
Summary: His knuckles are dripping blood where he’d slammed them into some Ghoulie’s mouth, and there’s a sharp cut just above his eye where the bastard had actually tried to fight back. Jughead pays no mind though, tracing the girl’s movements with thoughtful eyes. He watches her bounce off of the dance floor, the bar in her sights, and he makes a decision.





	our nights melt into sequels

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello, lovely people! This is an introduction to a probably a bit longer oneshot that will follow. I'm not really sure where I am going with this right now, at least not about every detail, but you can see based from the tags what it will be about (sorta). I hope you like this little snippet and will come back for the final thing! 
> 
> Playlist (as of now):  
> Imagine Dragons - I Don't Know Why  
> Hunter As a Horse - The Passenger

#### Introduction:

### looking for affection in all the wrong places 

She thought she could change the world. She was mistaken.

He thought he could annihilate the world. He was mistaken.

The world continues spinning, and they are just two specks lost in the gamble, never winning.  
(But they never lose either. The world just _is_.)

. . .

Elizabeth Cooper—that sounds stupid and old, so she just goes by Betty.

She’s the star of the family, hands down. It’s not that she strives to be acknowledged as the epitome of _perfection_ , it just happens. And, you know, she gets so used to the orders (“Achieve good grades, Elizabeth.”—“Manage your extracurricular activities wisely, Betty”—“Oh, don’t forget your athletics, darling!”), excellence _becomes_ her. Being the embodiment, the flagship of the Coopers is a job her sister rebels against and it leaves Betty with a sentiment of brutal, raw _envy_. 

She’s only a little girl, and she’s already exhausted.

. . .

Jughead Jones, the innocent child smiles brightly and is a kind, straight giver. But when Jughead is eight and sees mommy walk out on daddy and how it destroys everything, he knows that it’s true when they say you’re really not somebody—  


until somebody else loves you.

(the desire to be _needed_ never goes away)

And thus—  
Jughead Jones, the Serpent prince is _not_.

. . .

Betty doesn’t think she is broken so much as she is tragic. And maybe she always has been. She’s so used to giving and receiving only pieces and parts, never a whole—  
it’s just too much.

“Stand upright, _Elizabeth_.”

“ _Elizabeth_ , eat your fruits and vegetables.”

“This colour doesn’t suit you, _Elizabeth_.”

“Don’t end up like your misguided excuse of a sister, _Elizabeth_.”

Do it, do it, _do it_ , the voice in her head is raging. No, no, _no_ , the other one says.  
Nails digging into the palm of her hands, Betty puts _that_ one to sleep.

She loses another part of herself that moment.  
Betty knows she should cry,  
but she doesn’t.  
She _can’t_.

She wonders which is worse.

(They say blood is thicker than water, but it’s also a lot harder to clean up when it spills.)

. . .

Southside is a pollution.

 _Squirming_.

He hears it–them–calling. Sharp, shrill and raspy, the sibilance of serpents rising. They wake. They scream. Clever, little claws and poisoned teeth. They devour him whole.

“In unity, there is _strength_!”

He sheds his old, battered skin for another—a _newer_ , sharpened, superior version.

And this here is the sweet, bitter-dry, faceless fate.

. . .

And then, somehow, the specks collide:  
Awful and wonderful like birthing a train wreck.

(It’s the way he is a man and she is a woman and it’s just pure _damn_ chemistry.)

. . .

It is he to whom she turns when she screams awake at night.

It is she for whom he fights and bleeds day after day.

 _Jug_ , she whispers.

 _Betts_ , he breathes. 

(Even a massacre can be beautiful.)

. . . 

We all wind up drawn to what we’re afraid of,  
_(He, who is poisonous as a snake—)_

drawn to find a way to make ourselves safe from a thing  
_(descending, knocking at her door.)_

by crawling inside of it,  
_(But on her head, discreetly, she wears a crown of asphodels.)_

by loving it,  
_(And the king feasts on the intoxicating kisses strewed with lethality,)_

by becoming it.  
_(and on the other side of sanity: hello salvation.)_

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So you've reached the end. What do you think? Leave a comment to let me know!  
> Btw credits to that wonderful quote at the end ("We all wind up drawn to what we’re afraid of, drawn to find a way to make ourselves safe from a thing by crawling inside of it, by loving it, by becoming it"). It's from a book by Holly Black and I thought it fit so well!


End file.
